The European Challenge Tour heads to Ireland for the Irish Challenge at Headfort Golf Club. Here’s our three players to watch this week…
Form horse
Robin Roussel returned to the Challenge Tour in 2023 after losing his DP World Tour playing privileges last season. The Frenchman made a slow start to the campaign but has shown signs of a resurgence over the last few weeks with back-to-back top five finishes at the Italian Challenge Open and Euram Bank Open. The 29-year-old currently sits in 37th position on the Road to Mallorca Rankings and will be hoping to continue his impressive form in Ireland this week to break into the top 20.
Local boy
Conor Purcell was on site at Headfort Golf Club in 2019 as an amateur but the opportunity to tee it up in the Irish Challenge never materialised. The Irishman will be determined to make the most of his opportunity at Headfort this week and is looking forward to some home support with friends and family residing in the local town.
Purcell burst onto the scene this season with a top seven finish in the Australian Open – his career best finish on the DP World Tour – before successive top seven finishes during the South African Swing on the Challenge Tour propelled him into the top ten on the Road to Mallorca Rankings. The 26-year-old’s performances have been inconsistent since but will be hoping a return to Ireland can kickstart his promotion bid and climb back inside the all-important top-20 on the Rankings
The Outsider
Dermot McElroy graduated to the Challenge Tour this season after finishing third on the PGA EuroPro Tour’s Order of Merit in 2022. The Northern Irishman has struggled for consistency so far on the Road to Mallorca, however he has proven his ability to perform in the island of Ireland. The 30-year-old has won the Christy O’Connor Jnr Memorial Trophy on two occasions for finishing as the highest Irishman at the Irish Challenge, most recently in 2019 at Portmarnock Links.
The highest finishing Irishman this week will again take home the Christy O’Connor Jnr Memorial Trophy and this player will also receive an invitation to the 2023 Horizon Irish Open. The four-time DP World Tour winner is one of Ireland’s most beloved golfers and sadly passed away in 2016, when the Memorial Trophy was founded in his honour. Past recipients alongside McElroy include DP World Tour winner Tom McKibbin, Ruaidhri McGee, Connor O’Rourke and Cormac Sharvin.
